


Loose Ends

by coraxes



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Angst, M/M, mentioned zag/meg, no renovations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-01 15:30:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20817464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coraxes/pseuds/coraxes
Summary: When Zagreus first began escaping, he made sure to say goodbye to everyone he could. But the more he tried, the more unlikely it seemed that this escape attempt would be the last--so he stopped. Which meant that when he finally found himself ready to take on his father, he hadn't really said his farewells.At least Thanatos is here.





	Loose Ends

**Author's Note:**

> listen...I realize that adopted(?) sibling incest is problematic etc. but all the power dynamics in Hades are problematic, and also it's just really interesting to look at how fucked they all are, and also they're all Greek gods. so not to be all 2005 about it, but don't like don't read!
> 
> so cw for adopted sibling incest, mentions of fucked up family dynamics in the house of Hades in general, and discussion of canonical death mechanics.
> 
> **edit 1/7:** the "thought they were brothers" thing is no longer canon, but hopefully if you jumped on board after that update this still makes sense to you with that context. this fic was written before romance routes were officially available.

It’s not exhaustion that has Zagreus sitting down on one of Elysium’s low mossy walls. Not entirely, anyway. Thanatos always makes him want to show off, and he’d gotten in the way of a few too many longspears’ blows. But the Hydralite he bought earlier is still working its way through his veins, and Than’s gift of a centaur heart sends an invigorating shock through his limbs.

Zagreus feels good. _Great, _actually. Knows Elysium’s rhythm by now; Asterius and that prick of a king are only a few chambers away, if that.

So when Thanatos begins to disappear as always, Zagreus grabs his wrist and sits down. “Hold on a second, Than,” he says, and waves the ambrosia bottle that he’d picked up a few chambers back. “I know you’re busy, but—”

“_But _nothing,” Than says. He’s gone soft over the last few trips—Zagreus has no idea how long it’s been in normal terms—but exasperation creeps into his voice. (It never really leaves his face. Zagreus had to learn not to take it personally.) “I have my duties to attend to, and if your father finds out I’ve been helping you…”

“Please, Than.” Zagreus gives his arm another tug. He doesn’t like to beg for attention--

\--but on Than, it always works. “Fine,” he snaps, and settles on the wall beside Zagreus.

Zagreus pops the cork on the ambrosia bottle and passes it over, watching as Thanatos takes a drink. He could use one himself but it feels as if celebrating too early would curse him. And ambrosia seems to help with the bags under Thanatos’s eyes. They rarely spoke until Zagreus was well out of childhood, but he could swear Than didn’t always look so exhausted. “I ran into Meg earlier,” Zagreus says after a moment. “She’s not happy with you.”

She was actually quite dramatic. It shouldn’t be flattering, but it is. _I’m sure Thanatos will welcome you with open arms. _He wanted to ask if that was jealousy in her voice, but then she got back to trying to kill him.

Thanatos makes a face as he swallows the ambrosia. “I’m aware. We discussed it.”

Grinning, Zagreus asks, “And who died in _that _discussion?” Hopefully not the lounge.

Shaking his head, Thanatos chuckles. It’s a rare enough sound these days that Zagreus is proud of himself for making it happen. “The only one getting killed around here is you, Zag.”

And there goes the pride. “Ha." He takes a deep breath. Stygius is warm and reassuring against his back, radiating power, and this is as much of a chance as he’s going to get. “I’ve got a good feeling about this one, Than.”

More than once he’s fought his father and lost, but he’s come _close, _and the old man can’t keep regenerating forever. Soon it will be him limping out of the pool, and Zagreus won’t be there to see it. He feels strong this time. And Artemis and Athena are a lethal combination; he has breezed through the last few chambers, reckless competition notwithstanding.

Thanatos stiffens and meets Zagreus’s gaze, eyes narrowed. “You do.”

Somewhere along the way Zagreus lost that hope, _this could be the one, this could be it, _and with that hope went his goodbyes_. _Now that he’s drawing near the end Zagreus wishes he’d seen Megaera this time too, instead of Alecto. Wishes he could have gotten Patroclus to talk with Achilles. Wishes he had spoken to Hypnos and Nyx instead of merely waved on the way to his room. “I’m glad you caught up to me when you did,” he says, mouth dry.

Slowly Thanatos nods. “Then…I am, as well.”

“You said before that it never felt like we were brothers. What did it feel like for you, then?” Zagreus asks, words coming out in a burst before he can lose his nerve.

Thanatos flinches, and regret pools in Zagreus’s stomach. “Zagreus, I—”

Already Zagreus is shaking his head. “Never mind. You don’t have to say it.” He should know better. He knows what it’s like in his father’s house, how there are things no one talks about. Meg had always made that clear enough. He shouldn’t push Than just because he’s easier. “It never felt like that to me, either. Maybe with Hypnos, but I saw him every day.”

Zagreus couldn’t remember the first time he saw Thanatos; he always remembered being aware of him, a name and a dark figure who appeared only to report to his father. They must have spoken at some point, but Zagreus had been involved with Megaera before they’d really gotten to know each other.

“What are you saying?” Than’s knuckles are white where they’re clutching the neck of the bottle. It’s more _real _than Zagreus is used to seeing from him; usually he seems transient as a shade.

But he’s here and solid, maybe for the last time before Zagreus manages to escape. So Zagreus leans over and kisses him. Than freezes for a moment and then leans forward. It’s chaste enough, Than drawn tight like a bowstring. Zagreus wonders what it would be like for him to let go.

But he’s pushed far enough, and for once Zagreus can back off. “I just…wanted to try that. Before I left.” His mouth feels bruised even though it shouldn’t. No one touches him except to kill him anymore.

Something flickers over Thanatos’s face, there and gone too quickly for Zagreus to interpret, and then he draws back too. “We’ll see each other again, you know,” he says, floating up off the wall

“Can’t escape Death,” Zagreus agrees with a half-smile. But once he is out of his father’s house, it won’t be the same. He has to believe that will be a good thing. Anything else must be better than home.

“I,” Thanatos says, and hesitates. But whatever he was going to say, he finishes with, “I was never here.”

Zagreus blinks away the flash of green light left in Than’s wake. For a moment he lets himself sit on the wall, lets his muscles feel the ache of the miles and injuries he has walked through. The emblem over the next gate glimmers silver in warning of what is to come.

He has a good feeling about this. A good feeling about leaving this life among the dead behind.

With a deep breath, Zagreus pushes himself to his feet. He has to keep moving forward.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, comments and kudos are much appreciated.


End file.
